Moving day , into Port Hedland and do battle with the myriad of road trains - there are more road trains here than anywhere else we have been !!!! The majority are pulling 4 trailers full of iron ore !!
The drive (all 60 odd klms ) was uneventful , we didn’t have to stop at the rail crossing for Gina Reihardts Roy Hill line , and must have timed it well , as we only had to worry about following 2 road trains that turned off to another loading point short of Port Hedland itself .
Into the overflow camping area - we could get in there because we are a bit longer than most , and are fully self contained - unlike many that were also in there . You can stay a maximum of 3 night’s and only costs $10 a night - the council give you a welcome pack and request you leave your dockets so they can see whether it’s worth while doing the camp - it should be , we spent $300 in 24 hours !!!
Setting off into town , we went via Cemetery beach and checked out the reef and viewing platform , first thing I saw was a turtle coming up for some air about 5m away from me .
The water is being stirred up today by a lot of wind swell .
Further down the road we pulled up at the boat ramp and watched a ship being escorted out of the harbour - 4 tugs are assigned to the job .
Back around to the port viewing area , we looked across at a couple of the ships being loaded .
Getting some fish & chips for lunch seemed sensible - it was really nice fish - a couple of slabs of red emperor about 3cm thick , and melted in your mouth !!
After finishing lunch , we were in time to see the next ship get escorted into the harbour - and they come in at a good speed too !!
Time to shop and get some fuel - we filled up at Shell Coles Express because we had some flybuys money to use up , shopped and went back to the van , day done !!
Moving day again !! , up with the sun this morning , breaky done , hitched up , and off to empty tanks & add some water - today we’re going to the Bar - Marble Bar !!
Leaving town , you drive past the Rio Tinto Salt Mine , quite an impressive sight - we were lucky enough to have a triple road train driving past the base of the pile - gives it a little perspective - there is a grader also driving along behind the road train - that’s an awful big pile of salt !!!!
Driving along the highway for 40klms we found the turnoff to Marble Bar and headed southeast . The countryside turned flat , very flat , with the odd tree every now & then - it reinforces how big this country is when you can see 360 degrees and it’s all flat , the sky is enormous as well !!
We gradually climbed up - not that you could really notice - it was a sneaky climb . Mountains started appearing , and we had road trains coming at us at regular intervals , as well as quite a few caravans heading back to the coast .
The mountains were different from what we’d been seeing , then we found some with chocolate brown rocks along the ridges . We even had a pass to negotiate , the road took us through a lot of ranges and the speed limit was reduced to 60klm/hr , 40 klm/hr for trucks !!
Arriving in town , we found the park and checked in and set up , then had lunch before going up to the water tank lookout behind us .
Marble Bar is a small town of approx 1000 people , and has the dubious honour of being named Australia’s Hottest Town . In 1923-24 the temperature stayed above 37.8 degrees C or 100 degrees F for 161 consecutive days !! The town has a mining background from gold strikes , with manganese & gold mining still operating , the remaining industry is pastoral production .
Next stop was Chinaman’s Pool , it is on the Coongan River , and gained it’s name from an event - the hanging of a chinese miner when he refused to reveal the location of his gold strike to claim jumpers . There are series of pools , the water level is down due to lack of wet season rain . On one side of the pools is a seam of rock that looks a little plain and boring , unless you go for a walk and climb up onto the rocks - then the magic happens !! There is a seam of rock that runs nearly vertically from the ground upwards and has veins of different colours , some even looks like a parquetry floor , with individual pieces seemingly put into place by someone !! The colours are amazing !!!
Dragging ourselves away from here we disturbed one of the flocks of Corellas that live here - there are thousands of them !!
Up the road a little further we found Marble Bar pool . This is where the larger part of the seam of Jasper is found . We thought what we’d already seen was pretty amazing , well this blew that away !!!! This is what early settlers thought was marble , hence the towns name !!
Dragging ourselves away again , we headed back out and off to where the Jasper Deposit is - you can scratch around in the rocks to get some jasper to bring home . We didn’t take anything , but found an interesting piece on the ground .
Up the road a bit further is Flying Fox lookout . As the name suggests , there is a flying fox cable strung over the river - it wouldn’t be used much as you can walk across the river most of the time . There are views back down the river to where Marble Bar Pool is - the ridges either side of the river are the seam of Jasper , the middle being worn down by the river .
The day was wearing on and we were watching our fuel disappear quite rapidly - similar to when we got some crook diesel from Normanton last year - this time from Shell - time will tell !! Today we used half a tank full to do 210 klms . We will check tomorrow when we refuel.
Time to head back for a beer , here’s a map link :-https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yysHFP2_79hwwBAZL-0IKt-vM4E&usp=sharing
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